


More Light Than Girl

by CaptainJZH



Category: Steven Universe (Cartoon)
Genre: (probably), About Steven and Connie's physiology, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Blood Donation, Gen, I promise, Medical Inaccuracies, Mystery, Not too much science tho, Science Tests, Specifically how they can fuse, headcanons
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-18
Updated: 2019-06-18
Packaged: 2019-10-12 00:39:57
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 10
Words: 12,424
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17457326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/CaptainJZH/pseuds/CaptainJZH
Summary: Connie is changing, and Priyanka is determined to find out how.





	1. Chapter 1

It all started with a blood donation.

 

Connie’s school had been doing it for several years now, but her schedule had never allowed her to participate until recently, and she was excited. She got some free donuts, saw some nice people, and got that all-around good feeling you get when you help others.

 

Her pint of blood—which she knew was O Positive; her mother had her tested years back—was nonchalantly filed in with the other pints as they were shipped back to the blood bank. Everything seemed to check out, except…

 

“It didn’t register as blood?” Dr. Maheswaran asked over the phone. “What the hell does that even mean?”

 

“It means we either have a problem with the blood tester— on your daughter’s blood  _ specifically _ and no one else’s, mind you —or you have a problem, doc,” the technician at the blood bank told her.

 

Priyanka had to fight to hold back a sigh. “Yes, thank you. And could you send the hospital some samples? I’d like to start getting to the bottom of this.”

 

“I’ll send ya the whole pint. It’s not like we can use it for anything. Right now it’s just taking up freezer space.”

 

She didn’t hold back her sigh this time. “Might as well. Thank you, again.”

 

After hanging up, the doctor sat back in her desk chair, pondering. Maybe it was a practical joke. Maybe there was a one-in-a-million failure of the blood test. Heck, maybe the guys at the blood bank were all high as a kite! Plus, she had Connie’s blood drawn five years earlier, and it came back fine, then. Why would it come back differently now? 

 

_ Steven. _

 

Priyanka didn’t like how he was the first thing to come to her mind, but he  _ was _ the only variable to come into her daughter’s life that could even come close to accounting for the irregularity. Still, she shook the notion away. Now was not the time for speculation, especially when it came to Connie’s personal life.

 

She would wait until the facts came in.

 

\---

 

“This can’t be right,” Dr. Stromberg shook his head, reading the results of the blood test Dr. Maheswaran had ordered. “We gotta run it again.”

 

“We already ran it twice,” the lab technician shrugged. “I’d just give it to Pri and see what she thinks.”

 

“She’s gonna say you gotta fix the machine and run it again. There’s no way in hell this result is normal!”

 

“Then let her tell us that, jeez. It’s her kid, after all.”

 

Dr. Stromberg sighed and marched down the hall to Priyanka’s office, knocking on the door.

 

“Dr. M, I got the results of the blood test you ordered.”

 

“Oh good, please, come in.”

 

The young doctor entered the room and plopped the folder down on her desk, standing nervously as she opened it up and began reading it. It was difficult to parse her expression, but to his surprise she did not give him any further orders, instead reminding him that he wasn’t being paid to stand and watch her read. After Dr. Stromberg left, Priyanka thought for a moment, before taking out her cell phone and dialing a number.

 

“Mr. Universe?” she asked as the call connected. “Yes, this is Doctor Maheswaran. I… Out of curiosity, when was the last time Steven had a doctor’s appointment?”

 

\---

 

“So her blood didn’t come back as blood? What does that even mean?” Greg asked as Steven sat idly in the hospital waiting room, he and Priyanka talking off to the side.

 

“It has the same structure as blood, the same function as blood, and it even looks like blood, but it’s not testing normally.”

 

“And you think Steven had something to do with it?”

 

She could tell Greg was becoming uncomfortable, as if his son was nothing more than a specimen to her. 

 

“I don’t mean it in a bad way,” she assured him, “But… He’s the only change in Connie’s life since her last test and...well if he can magically make her eyes better then who knows, right?”

 

“I dunno…”

 

“It’s your decision, of course. But please, from parent to parent: I’d like to know what’s going on with my daughter, and your son’s the only explanation I have. And honestly, I’ll admit I’m curious about his physiology in general.”

 

Greg gave it some thought, and ultimately agreed. 

 

“Alright,” he said, running his hand through the long strands of hair running down his head, “I guess a little science never hurt anyone, right?”

 

Greg’s attempt at lightening the mood worked, surprisingly, making Priyanka chuckle a little bit as she walked with him and Steven out of the waiting room.

 

\---

 

Steven’s first ever checkup went off without a hitch. He was utterly fascinated by everything, as usual, and aside from a natural fear of needles, he wasn’t fazed by the blood test. Priyanka thanked Greg for his cooperation, and agreed to get back to him as soon as possible. Unfortunately, the bureaucracy of medicine reared its ugly head, and it became clear that it would take a while. 

 

Not wanting to dwell on the issue, especially considering Connie was in no immediate danger as far as she could tell, she decided that the results would come in when they came in, and there was no need to obsess over it.

 

She probably should have told the lab not to send the results to her home address, though.

 

\---

 

Connie had always made sure to get the mail when she came home from school. Today was no different, as it would be at least an hour until her parents got home. Today it seemed to be assorted bills, mailers and magazines, as usual, but as she set the load down on the table, something peculiar caught her eye. It was a manila envelope, with a large, white label slapped onto it.

 

“ _ BLOOD TEST RESULTS: UNIVERSE, STEVEN + MAHESWARAN, CONNIE” _

 

A blood test? She hadn’t had a blood test in five years, unless this had something to do with the blood drive at school. But then why would Steven be included? He did mention he had his first checkup a couple weeks prior, but she didn’t press for details.

 

Connie considered opening it—it was her blood, after all—but it wouldn’t be right to look at it when it also contained Steven’s results. And yet, as she stood in the kitchen, ogling the envelope, her suspicions and curiosity grew. Unable to ignore the feeling any longer, she decided now would be a good time for a visit to Steven’s. She left a note on the table before rushing out to the bus stop, the envelope in hand.

 

_ “Gem Emergency, Be Back By 9” _

 

Hopefully it wasn’t an emergency for her and Steven, though.


	2. Chapter 2

“So you just found it in the mail?” Steven asked Connie as he looked over the envelope.

 

“Yeah…” Connie sighed, sitting down on the couch. “I feel bad that I took it, though. Probably should have asked my mom what it was…”

 

Steven sat down next to her. “No, no, I’m glad you came to me with this. I… I wanna know what this is about, too.”

 

“And you said they had blood drawn at your checkup?”

 

“Yeah, I think so. I don’t know why it’d be included with yours, though.”

 

Connie was silent, as if thinking about what to say next. Steven recognized this, and handed the envelope back to her.

 

“But I’ll only open it if you want to,” he told her, offering a reassuring smile.

 

Connie smiled back. “Well, what are we waiting for?”

 

Steven nodded in confirmation, before watching as Connie tore open the top of the envelope and pulled out a sheet.

 

_ “Blood Type: Unknown,”  _ was the first thing to catch her eye.

 

“That’s weird… I could have sworn I was O Positive.”

 

“What’s that?”

 

“I’ll explain blood types to you later,” she said, looking back at the papers.

 

_ “Exact composition unknown; both samples are identical substance. Possibly synthetic in nature.” _

 

“...Synthetic?” Steven asked, confused. “I don’t know... _ anything _ about my body but I’m pretty sure I’m made of flesh and bone.”

 

“So am I… But composition unknown? Identical substance? What’s going on here?”

 

Steven scratched his chin for a moment, before looking up in realization.

 

“I think I know someone who can tell us just that.”

 

\---

 

“Peri, can you please explain to me why you needed to build a giant science thing in my room?” Amethyst asked as she pushed aside the latest pile of displaced junk. 

 

“Because the bathroom was too small,” Peri shrugged. “Now where are the atomic batteries?”

 

“I dunno, probably in the toxic waste pile.”

 

“And where is that?”

 

“Underneath the non-toxic waste pile, duh.”

 

“Oh, yes, I see it,” Peri said, starting to make her way over.

 

The sound of Steven and Connie falling into a pool of water interrupted the two Gems, as they shouted  _ “Peridot!”  _ on their way down.

 

“Hey Steven, hey Connie,” Amethyst said as she helped them back onto dry land. “What’s up?”

 

Standing back up, Connie fished the document out of her pocket, rereading it hesitantly.

 

“When I got home today, I… I found this in the mail…”

 

She handed it over to Amethyst, who began reading it upside down.

 

“What’s a ‘Tset Doolb’ and should I know about it?”

 

“We were actually thinking Peridot could help.”

 

Amethyst shrugged and hollered over to the green Kindergartener. “Yo! Peri! The Dream Couple are here to see you!”

 

“Wait, what?” Steven asked.

 

“Steven! Connie!” Peridot exclaimed, popping out from under a trash pile. “It’s good to see you!”

 

Peri walked up the two kids, wiping her hands of what they  _ hoped  _ was just oil.

 

“I would shake your touch stumps, but I’m afraid my extremities are coated in what Pearl says would be considered ’lethal radiation’ for your species. Anyway, what can I do you for, oh neighbor of mine?”

 

“Well, you’re into science and stuff,” Steven explained, “So we figured you could make sense of this letter Connie got from the doctor about our blood.”

 

“Why, of course! I am always glad to be of assistance,” Peri said, giving the document a lookover. “Now, I just need to know what a ‘doctor’ is. Also, what ‘blood’ is.”

 

“Ho boy…” Steven sighed.

 

\---

 

Luckily, with Peri’s tablet she was able to quickly skim through WebDr, which she understood surprisingly well.

 

“Ah, okay,” she nodded, returning her attention to Steven and Connie. “Now I am as confident in my knowledge of the human body as I am in my knowledge of Gems.”

 

“You only read it for, like, five minutes!” Amethyst called out, sitting on an overturned couch nearby.

 

“Gems are naturally fast readers, especially with such a primitive language as American English.”

 

“If that’s true, then why haven’t I been able to finish that ‘Bible’ thing yet? It’s been forever since it came out and I’m still at the part with the chick and the apple!”

 

_ “Anyway,”  _ Peri continued, “I believe I can help you two.”

 

“Oh, thank you very much, Peridot,” Connie said. “We wouldn’t even know where to start without you.”

 

“Now, I will require the following items: Brain tissue samples, heart tissue samples, lung tissue samples, kidney tissue samples, bone marrow samples  _ and _ urine samples, in that order, preferably.”

 

“Uh…”

 

“Hey Peri, don’t you have, like, a big super scanner thing you just made?” Amethyst interrupted. “Can’t you just zap ‘em with that?”

 

“Well  _ yeah _ , but this is more fun!”

 

“I opt for the less fun option,” Steven immediately chimed in.

 

“So do I,” Connie agreed.

 

_ “Very well,”  _ Peri sighed. “Now when will I get to use the elite surgical skills I learned from that ‘Operation’ simulator?”

 

\---

 

Steven and Connie layid down on a worn, wooden table, as Peri wheeled her extensive collection of computers into the room, a misshapen mess of gem tech salvaged from her exploded ship and old human computers she found lying around Amethyst’s room. After hooking them together with a complicated mix of jumper cables and other random cords, she finally rolled in the central apparatus— it looked like a large, green microscope, cobbled together from parts that she may or may not have stolen from multiple government agencies, combined with further gem tech she had lying around, to create some sort of insanely-powerful super-scanner. (When asked why she needed such a device, she only said, “For science!”)

 

Amethyst had been using it as a pizza stand.

 

“Hey, I was saving those!” Amethyst complained as Peri shoved a weeks-old box of pizza off the control panel. “Everyone knows you gotta leave Hawaiian Pizza sitting for  _ at least _ three-weeks so the pineapple ferments.”

 

“Gross,” Connie remarked. “Peridot, are you ready to start?”

 

“Just about! Now, you  _ will _ have to be wary of any dental fillings and/or other miscellaneous implants, as the scanning process  _ may  _ end up liberating said implants from your body, but that’s just what the humans in ‘Switzerland’ said.”

 

“Wait, what?”

 

“Beginning!” Peri exclaimed, throwing the switch.

 

Steven instinctively took Connie’s hand, which relieved the tension considerably as a red laser moved over them, while Peri ran over to the various computers and made adjustments to the calibration. A feed of paper readouts piled out onto the floor from one terminal, whilst Amethyst sat back and watched.

 

“Peridot, how long is this going to last?”

 

“Well, since Pearl wouldn’t let me tap into the Crystal Heart’s power supply, I had to rely on ancient human means of powering the scanner, so at the current processing speeds we’re looking at...seventy-four hours?”

 

Before Steven and Connie could respond, the power in the machines shut off completely, shorting out every circuit irreparably.

 

“Amethyst, you said these batteries were fully-charged!”

 

“They are!” Amethyst said, hopping off of her seat atop the trash pile. “Oh wait, no, sorry, I plugged your thing into the extension cord I use for the TV back here instead.”

 

_ “Amethyst!”  _ she heard Pearl holler.

 

“I didn’t do it!” Amethyst hollered back.

 

Peridot sighed and picked up the stack of readouts. “I was hoping to have something more thorough, but the preliminary scan should have given us enough.”

 

The engineer began reading through the sheets of paper, her expression growing more and more serious. She looked gravely up at Steven and Connie.

 

“Connie, are you certain that these ‘parents’ of yours are not Gems?”

 

Connie almost laughed at the suggestion. “What? No, they’re human! Why? What does it say?”

 

“The  _ gist  _ of it is, well… Connie, your body is almost identical in composition to the Half-Gem, Steven.”

 

_ “What?”  _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> So how about them new episodes? 
> 
> Anyway, we're just continuing onward as normal, cause canon-divergent AUs are the best.
> 
> Hope you like the twists and turns that come about :D


	3. Chapter 3

“Peridot, what are you saying?” Steven asked, concerned.

 

“It’s actually quite remarkable,” the green Gem continued. “I’ve never seen light-based matter in an organic before. Of course, I’ve never studied  _ any  _ organics before, so...”

 

“Peridot…”

 

“In fact, this shouldn’t be  _ possible…  _ Are you  _ sure  _ you’re not secretly a Gem, Connie?”

 

“No! I’m not!” she shouted. “Peridot, what’s this all about?”

 

Peridot sighed. “Amethyst, do you have a chalkboard I can use?”

 

\---

 

“Okay, here is my understanding thus far,” Peridot said in front of the chalkboard. “Gems, as you know, are made of hard-light projections emanated from a central point, namely, a gemstone.

 

“Now, this posed a problem for Steven’s parents, I would imagine, since normally these two species would be, well,  _ incompatible.  _ And Steven, by all accounts,  _ seems  _ like a normal human!”

 

Steven shuffled uncomfortably in his chair.

 

“ _ Buuut _ , based on these scans, Steven’s complex organic makeup— his organs, his fluids, and so on —is actually an elaborate facsimile produced by his gem, and he is, in fact, completely light-based.”

 

A frown drooped across Steven’s face. First he was half-gem, half-human, and now he was just a gem that looked like human? Did he belong anywhere? Was he a fraud? He almost felt sick to his stomach. Heck, did he even  _ have  _ a stomach? His self-loathing was stopped by the comforting hand of Connie being placed atop his, steadying his shaking leg.

 

“In hindsight, knowing that you two have fused makes much more sense now.”

 

“Peridot,  _ shut up! _ ” Connie scolded. The engineer immediately stopped talking, recognizing her unintended insensitivity.

 

“Oh, Steven I’m so sorry,” she quickly apologized.

 

“No, no...it’s okay,” Steven sighed. The glum look on his face became one of realization, as gears began to turn in his head. “Peridot, what did you say about us fusing?”

 

“W-well,” Peridot continued, returning to her previous train of thought. “Simply that when I assumed that you were made of 100% organic components, the concept of you fusing did not make sense. And now…”

 

“And now it does make sense because I’m made of light, yes,” Steven nodded, understanding. “But what about Connie? You..you said we were the same?”

 

“...Yes!” Peridot exclaimed, rushing to the chalkboard to continue her explanation. “For reasons that I cannot even begin to fathom, you and Connie are  _ both  _ made of light, like Gems. You have brains like humans, breathe air like humans, require sustenance like humans and have various fluids like humans, but it would appear to be entirely synthetic in nature. And yet while Steven has his Gem to produce said light in the first place, Connie’s composition eludes me. I would  _ assume  _ you were born fully organic, yes?”

 

“For the last time, yes!”

 

_ “Okay,”  _ Peridot said, backing off. “Last time, I swear. Because in that case, something happened to you between then and now that  _ altered _ your physiology. And, well, forgive me Steven… but I have no choice but to assume that it is  _ you, _ that happened.”

 

“...Oh,” Steven said, his voice growing incredibly quiet.

 

Connie, not letting go of Steven’s hand, reassured him once more. “Steven, it’s okay. Whatever’s going on with me, it’s not your fault.”

 

“It is!” Steven said, standing up. “If..if I was never involved in your life you’d still be human! And now I’m not even half-human and you’re just like me and...”

 

“And who’s to say who’s human and who’s not?” Connie interrupted. “Peridot, you said our anatomy is basically the same as normal humans, right? Just made of different stuff?”

 

“Yes, that is correct.”

 

“Then I’m still human, Steven! Maybe a little hardier than before, but, like, still the same overall? I still need to eat, drink, sleep…”

 

“Yeah!” Amethyst chimed in. “I only do those things for fun! You guys  _ gotta.”  _

 

“I suppose you’re right…” Steven mused.

 

“And then there’s all the stuff you guys can do just ‘cause you wanna. Like sweating, spitting, crying, shi—”

 

“Amethyst, no human ‘wants’ to sweat,” Connie said. “Or cry. Or—”

 

“Well I enjoy it.”

 

“Wait, what was that second one you said?” Steven asked.

 

“Spitting? Why, you want me to hock a loogie? Cause I will!”

 

“No, Amethyst, stop!” Connie scolded. “Steven, what is it?”

 

“I think I know what happened. Peridot, can we run one more test?”

 

\---

 

“And then the power went out! Not just here either, all over town!” Pearl complained to Garnet out in Steven’s living room. “I have a feeling Amethyst and Peridot had something to do with it…”

 

“They did,” Garnet said, stoic as usual. “But you shouldn’t get involved.”

 

“But Garnet! They knocked out the electricity for the whole town with whatever they’re doing! That’s surely a punishable—”

 

Garnet held up her hand, as if she was sensing something. Her neutral expression began showing signs of a scowl.

 

“We have to get down there,  _ now.” _

 

\---

 

“Peri, how in the world did you get your hands on Cat Steven? Garnet’s, like, murderously protective of that thing.”

 

“He was roaming around aimlessly, and so I acquired him in the cause of science.”

 

Peridot placed Cat Steven on the table, powering up her scanner once more.

 

“Are you sure you plugged it into the  _ right  _ socket this time?”

 

“Sir, yes, sir!” Amethyst said in a faux-militaristic tone, making a salute.

 

“At ease,” Steven remarked as he and Connie rounded the corner. “Peridot, why are you using Cat Steven?”

 

“He is very willing! And the test is perfectly harmless now. All we need is the base preliminary scan  _ now,  _ and then you’ll feed him some of your special healing saliva, and we’ll scan again for any changes.”

 

“Yeah but, like, I don’t think Garnet—”

 

_ “Peridot!”  _ they heard Garnet shout as she climbed up through one of the water puddles leading to the Burning Room, Pearl in tow.

 

“I didn’t do it!” Peridot yelped running behind her machines.

 

Garnet marched up to the four, gauntlets out, a furious expression on her face. “Peridot, get out here!”

 

“Wait,” Steven said, running up to her. “I was the one who asked Peridot to run another test.”

 

“Another test?” Pearl inquired. “Steven, what on Earth are you four doing down here?”

 

“Steven, tell me what’s wrong,” Garnet said, kneeling before Steven. Steven ran forward and hugged her.

 

“Guys…” Steven said, holding back tears. “Something… Something’s happened…”

 

\---

 

“That’s impossible!” Pearl exclaimed. Peridot had just explained the results of Steven and Connie’s scan, and as far as she understood, it was utter nonsense.

 

“I thought so too,” Peridot explained, “But then Steven brought up the topic of his healing spit, which, approximately two years ago, Connie unwittingly ingested.”

 

Pearl turned to Steven, who was blushing along with Connie. She took that as indication that Peridot was telling the truth.

 

“And after that, well, I didn’t need my glasses anymore,” Connie spoke. “And looking back, I started doing better in phys ed, I got sick less… Heck, I felt a lot stronger in general!”

 

“And then you two fused,” Garnet finished, knowing where this was going.

 

“Y-yeah,” Connie stammered, still holding Steven’s hand. “I don’t know if that was what caused all this, or if it was the spit but… It doesn’t really matter that I have all the answers. I’m...fine with where we are now, I think.”

 

“Now that’s a load of bull if I ever heard one,” Amethyst chimed in, hopping off her garbage pile.

 

“Amethyst!” Pearl scolded.

 

“What? They deserve an answer for whatever Gem Junk is up with them!”

 

As Pearl and Amethyst proceeded to argue, Garnet noticed Steven gradually receding behind Connie, hiding his face almost completely. She stood up and walked over to him.

 

“Steven.”

 

Steven looked up at her as she sat down next to him.

 

“Y-yeah?” he asked. Connie turned around, seeing his red, tear-stained eyes.

 

“You have done nothing wrong.”

 

“But—”

 

“You had no idea about your powers at that age. Even we were unsure of as to what you were capable of.”

 

“What about Connie? I still did this to her.”

 

“And I still said you’ve done nothing wrong.”

 

Steven was silent, processing what he was being told.

 

“You’re an entirely unique being, Steven. That is nothing to be ashamed of. I don’t think Connie is ashamed…”

 

Connie chuckled. “If anything, I’m just confused.”

 

“That makes two of us,” Steven nodded.

 

Garnet also nodded, as if leading Steven to a conclusion. Steven and Connie looked at each other, realizing the power in those words.

 

“Now, Amethyst is right. You two do deserve an answer.”

 

_ “Yes!”  _ Amethyst called out.

 

“But no using Cat Steven to find it.”

 

“Yes, sir, Garnet sir,” Steven laughed, a smile returning to his face.

 

“Aw man!” Peridot complained. “But how else are we supposed to test our hypothesis?”

 

Steven thought for a moment. He got an idea. 

 

“I think I know a guy…”

 

\---

 

Greg awoke to a knock at his door. He opened the back of the van, seeing all of the Gems plus Steven and Connie standing before him.

 

“Uh… Hi, all!”

 

Garnet took a step forward.

 

“We need your leg.”


	4. Chapter 4

Greg looked at Steven with enough guilt to fill a rigged courtroom. He sat in the living room couch, having just been briefed on Steven and Connie’s blood tests, Peridot’s scans, and why they needed his leg of all things. 

 

Namely, that since he was the only other human besides Connie who had been healed by Steven’s spit, and by giving it a scan, their hypothesis that her “composition shift from organic tissue to light-based matter” was caused by drinking Steven’s backwash could be confirmed.

 

“What I still don’t understand is why they tested their blood in the first place,” Pearl pondered. “They didn’t tell you anything at his doctor’s appointment, did they Greg?”

 

Greg felt a tight feeling in his chest. He held his breath for a bit too long, garnering suspicion from Steven, who looked over at him with a look that was so painful to even glance at. He exhaled, letting out a sigh as he turned to face his son and his best friend.

 

“I’m sorry,” was the first thing out of his mouth. 

 

“W-what?” Steven asked, betrayal quickly showing on his face.

 

“Connie’s mom asked me to get you tested… I shouldn’t have kept it from you. That...that was wrong of me.”

 

“My  _ mom  _ asked you?” Connie interjected. “Why?”

 

Greg sighed again. 

 

“She said that your blood wasn’t testing right, and figured that… well, that Steven was a possible explanation.” 

 

“And she didn’t tell me…” Connie said in a low voice, her fists clenching.

 

“I’m sure she had her reasons,” Greg tried to reassure her, but it was difficult considering he was more or less guilty of the same thing. He ran his hands through his hair, at a loss as to what to do. He stood up and faced the two children.

 

“Look… We don’t have to tell Connie’s mom until you two are ready. I owe you guys that much.”

 

“Thanks,” Connie sighed, holding her arms in an attempt to calm down.

 

Greg looked over to Steven. He was looking up at the painting of his mother over the door. Greg sat down next to him and placed a hand on his shoulder.

 

“I’m… I’m really sorry, bud.”

 

“No, no, it’s fine. I’m fine, really.”

 

“Okay… But if you need to talk, I’m here.”

 

Steven nodded, going in for a hug. Their embrace was interrupted by the door to the Temple opening, with Amethyst and Peridot loudly announcing their presence. Amethyst was carrying a large, rusty saw.

 

“Now, peons!” Peridot said, “Where is my patient?”

 

“Peridot, we told you, no amputations,” Pearl scolded.

 

“Aw  _ man!”  _ Amethyst groaned, throwing the saw to the ground. “I never get to have any fun around here.”

 

\---

 

Greg was led into Amethyst’s room, where he laid down on the table beneath the scanner.

 

“Okay, so, I just lay here, right?”

 

“Precisely,” Peridot said, going to power on the machine. “Now Amethyst, you  _ have  _ connected it to the right power supply this time, right?”

 

“For the fifth time,  _ yes.” _

 

“Perfect. Now, if the spectators could stand back...”

 

“Wait, why do they need to—”

 

“Full power!” Peri exclaimed as she threw the switch, and in an abrupt flash of lights, the various computer terminals began exploding from the surge of electricity. The scanner shined a red laser down on the 40-year-old, who squirmed uncomfortably but sucked it up in the name of his son.

 

“Is...is it  _ supposed  _ to be exploding like that?”

 

“No, but I’m working with it.”

 

“Oh...that’s just dandy, then,” Greg whimpered.

 

“And there’s only three more hours of scanning to go!”

 

“What?!”

 

\---

 

“And...done!” Peridot said, switching off the now-melted husk of a scanner.

 

“Do I still have my hair?” Greg asked as he stepped off the table.

 

“I cannot answer that for it is beyond my range of expertise.”

 

“You still got your hair, dude!” Amethyst called out from behind a trash pile. “Or what’s left of it, anyway.”

 

“Oh thank goodness,” Greg muttered before being pulled into a hug by his son.

 

“Dad! Thank you so much!”

 

“It was nothing, Schtu-Ball. Hopefully this gives you guys what you’re looking for.”

 

“It just might!” Peridot exclaimed, tearing off the computer readouts.

 

Everyone gathered around Peridot as she skimmed through the analysis, eager for answers.

 

“What does it say?” Steven asked.

 

“Let’s see… The majority of the body is still fully organic…”

 

“That’s... _ good? _ ” Greg tried to add, quickly realizing that he wasn’t adding anything of value.

 

“Scan of lower left leg reveals…” Her eyes widened. “It picked up light-based matter, but even then it’s mostly residue. Like...a projector, burned into a screen.”

 

“What do you mean?”

 

Peridot thought for a moment, before snapping her fingers in realization.

 

“When was the last time you two fused into Stevonnie?” Peridot asked.

 

“Peridot!” Pearl scolded, an edge of scandal underlying her tone.

 

“No, no, it’s fine,” Connie insisted. “It was...last week? For training, right?”

 

“Yeah, that makes sense,” Steven nodded. “But why?”

 

“It’s just a theory so far, but if Connie’s transformation was  _ solely  _ a result of Steven’s healing powers, then the repaired bone in Greg’s leg would be 100% light construct, rather than the residue we see here.”

 

“So it’s like...us fusing, keeps Connie’s ‘form’ together?” Steven suggested, trying to keep up.

 

“Yes, which tracks with Connie having no gem herself, solving the issue of power generation. And I would imagine the deterioration is incredibly slow, thank the stars. We just need a way to confirm it…”

 

Steven and Connie looked at each other, both of them thinking the same thing.

 

“What if…” Steven began, hesitantly, “You scanned Stevonnie?”

 

The Gems plus Greg all raised their eyebrows in surprise, before Peridot sighed and returned to her charred and battered computers. 

 

“I’ll get the scanner working again…” she grumbled, pulling out her toolkit. “This may take a while.”

 

\---

 

Steven and Connie sat down on the couch, the former shaking his leg anxiously. He sighed a breath of relief when Connie’s hand came down onto his knee, steadying his nerves.

 

“Heh, thanks…” Steven smiled. “Connie, I know it’s not my fault, but I’m still—”

 

“Really sorry, yeah, I know,” Connie chuckled. “There’s nothing to be sorry for, Steven. It’s like...we’re the same now? And well, I couldn’t think of a better person to turn me into a being of light, heh.”

 

Steven and Connie got closer and closer, until Steven’s gem began to glow, engulfing both of them in its light and leaving a very flustered Stevonnie in their place.

 

“Uh… Hi?” they said, awkwardly sprawled out on the couch.

 

The Crystal Gems and Greg more or less shrugged, not thinking a second thought about Stevonnie’s sudden presence. That was practically normal with Steven and Connie these days. Garnet went up to talk to them.

 

“Hey, Garnet…” Stevonnie greeted as the taller fusion sat down.

 

“Tell me how you feel, Stevonnie,” Garnet instructed. Stevonnie smiled. She was breaking out  _ that  _ ol’ chestnut? They were in good hands.

 

“I feel... Steven’s anxiety and Connie’s fears, but also their love for each other… Which is almost so powerful it negates all the rest, if that makes any sense?”

 

Garnet nodded. “But tell me how  _ you  _ feel.”

 

Stevonnie thought for a moment. “I feel… good! Yeah, I feel good!”

 

“That’s all I needed to hear.”

 

Stevonnie leapt up off the couch, repeating the phrase over and over again. “I feel good! I feel good! I feel—”

 

Suddenly, the front door swung open, alerting everyone in the room and making them turn towards it. Stevonnie’s happiness was cut short when they saw who it was standing in the threshold. They looked at the time. It was  _ well  _ past nine.

 

“This hardly looks like a ‘Gem Emergency,’” Priyanka Maheswaran said, looking around the room. “Now, where is—”

 

Stevonnie began to destabilize, dropping Connie and Steven to the floor.

 

“Why hello, Dr. Maheswaran, what a lovely evening this is—” Steven tried to smooth things over, before getting a “Not Helping” look from Connie. Steven sighed. 

 

This was going to get worse before it got better, wasn’t it?


	5. Chapter 5

“Connie, it’s  _ past your curfew,”  _ Priyanka scolded, folding her arms and looking disapprovingly at Greg, who awkwardly shuffled in his seat in the kitchen. Steven hopped off the couch and immediately tried to defend his friend.

 

“Dr. Maheswaran, this is my fault, I’m sorry,” he pleaded. “Connie and I were playing and we lost track of time and—”

 

_“No,”_ Connie interrupted, standing up. “Mom, I lied. There wasn’t a Gem Emergency. I came here because…” 

 

She pulled out the crumpled letter from the hospital, holding it up for her mother to see. 

 

“Because of  _ this!” _

 

For the first time in a while, Priyanka found herself speechless.

 

“How...how did you get that?” she asked, trying to find her words.

 

“I found it in the mail when I got home from school. How long were you planning on  _ keeping this from me?”  _

 

“Connie, I—”

 

“And thinking  _ Steven  _ caused it? After all he’s done?”

 

Tears began to form in her eyes, as Connie fought to hold them back and failed. Priyanka’s stern expression collapsed into one of pain and regret, unsure of what to say.

 

“Connie, I didn’t mean to hurt you, I… I was going to tell you!”

 

“When? After you’d poked and prodded us behind our backs? Or were you just going to let us find out like this?”

 

Pearl stepped up to bat, in an attempt to defuse the situation.

 

“Connie, why don’t we just take some deep breaths—”

 

_ “Shut up!”  _ Connie snapped, before realizing what she had done. She’d yelled at  _ Pearl,  _ the Gem who always stood by her, helping her train and always believing in her potential. The young girl closed her eyes and ran out the door, sobbing.

 

“I’m going to talk to her,” Steven said, heading out after her.

 

\---

 

“So… that was their fusion?” Priyanka asked, her face buried deep in her palms.

 

“Yes. Stevonnie is their name,” Garnet nodded. “I’m surprised Connie never told you about them.”

 

“I suppose it’s only fair at this point,” the doctor muttered. “I kept this from Connie for so long. Considering that, she’s got every right to keep other things from me.”

 

“I know how you feel,” Pearl said, pouring her a cup of tea. “I kept a  _ lot  _ of things from Steven… I wanted to tell him everything, but I  _ couldn’t _ and it  _ hurt _ and… I guess what I’m saying is, don’t feel so bad about it. We all have our secrets.” She looked up at the painting of Rose that still hung over the door. “Some more damaging than others.”

 

Priyanka took this in and turned to Greg. “I’m guessing Steven didn’t take it too well when he found out you knew, too, huh?”

 

“Actually, he took it pretty well, all things considered. But hindsight being 20/20, we should have definitely told the Gems about this.”

 

“Yeah…” Priyanka sighed, looking into her tea. “If it’s at all possible, I’d like to get a copy of those scan results. With your permission, of course. Maybe the hospital can do something with them, maybe cross-reference them or—”

 

Pearl placed a hand on her shoulder. “I’ll see what we can do.”

 

\---

 

Steven knew exactly where Connie had run to. It was a spot along the cliffside both of them knew well, just ahead of the mailbox and just within view of Beach City, a few broken rocks surrounding an indentation in the sand.

 

It was where they first met.

 

“Connie?” Steven asked as he rounded the corner.

 

“Go away, I just wanna be alone…” Connie muttered, curled up into a ball at the cliff face. “Like always…”

 

Steven sat down next to her. “I think that’s the last thing you want right now.”

 

Connie lifted her head up out of her knees, her eyes red from sobbing. She smiled a weak smile.

 

“Do you always know what to say, or are you only this perfect sometimes?”

 

“It’s a curse,” Steven joked, helping Connie up. “So...do you want to talk about what just happened?”

 

Connie sighed, leaning her back against the cliffside. “I get  _ why _ she lied to me. Heck, it wasn’t much of a lie and more of a omission, but… it still hurts that she didn’t trust me. I fight monsters for crying out loud! I think I’d be able to handle news about my  _ own body _ , you know?”

 

Steven reached out and held her steadily shaking hand. “I know how you feel. I still feel like the Gems are hiding things from me. Not important things, maybe, but I still think I ought to know more than they’ve told me. I guess I should probably ask in that case, but there are a lot of things that are sore subjects for them, and I don’t wanna hurt ‘em by being curious...”

 

“Are you upset with your dad for keeping this from you, too?”

 

Steven thought for a moment. “A little bit, I guess? If he didn’t come clean like he did, I’d probably be more mad, but I don’t think I can stay upset at the guy. Heck, I’d probably have done the same thing…”

 

“Yeah…” Connie looked up at the stars, down at the tracks her mother’s car had made in the sand, then back over at Steven. She sighed. “Steven… is it okay if I stay at your house tonight?”

 

Steven’s face noticeably reddened. “Uh, sure! Yeah, sure! You can stay over as long as you need.”

 

Connie smiled, leaning her head towards Steven’s. “Thanks… Steven, you’re the best person I’ve ever known.”

 

“Uh...ditto,” Steven chuckled as they got closer and closer. It seemed as though their blushing faces were about to collide when Steven’s gem lit up, bringing Stevonnie into being for the second time that night.

 

“Well that happened,” Stevonnie commented, blushing at themself.

 

\---

 

It wasn’t another hour until Steven and Connie returned to the Beach House. Or rather, until  _ Stevonnie  _ returned to the Beach House.

 

“Connie! I, uh, I mean,  _ Stevonnie… _ ” Priyanka stammered, standing up and approaching the fusion.

 

“Connie doesn’t want to talk to you right now,” Stevonnie shook their head.

 

“That’s fair,” Priyanka sighed, holding her arms for comfort.

 

“She also wants to stay here tonight. Steven already said yes.”

 

Priyanka looked over at the Gems and Steven’s father, who didn’t seem to object.

 

“...Fine,” she finally said, ending the long silence. “I think we both need some space.”

 

Priyanka knew her time here would be limited, grabbing her purse and heading for the door. She turned back to look at Stevonnie. She could see Connie’s eyes in them. A little bit of her nose, too. She almost wanted to ask if she could see her daughter again, but she knew Connie was still mad at her. If she wanted to be a part of Stevonnie, then so be it. 

 

As Priyanka said goodbye and went back to her car, Stevonnie sighed and decided that it was time for bed. Greg went back to the van, the Gems all retreated back into the Temple, each of them giving Stevonnie encouraging words, like “chin up” or “things will get better” or “hey, what if I set fire to Dr. M’s car?” (that was Amethyst).

 

They got cozy under Steven’s covers, slowly letting their anxieties melt away, humming the tune to a familiar song.

 

_ “It’s just a thought, just a thought, just a thought…” _

 

_ “It’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay, it’s okay…” _

 

_ “I’m here.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I should mention, this fic and Titanic are being moved to alternating Mondays. Works better for me :)


	6. Chapter 6

The light that morning was warm, hitting Steven’s bed as the sun rose over Beach City. Stevonnie’s eyes opened, surprised.

 

“We’re still...fused?” Stevonnie asked themself. “Is this okay? Wait, what am I saying, _of course_ it’s okay…”

 

Stevonnie hopped out of bed, hearing the sound of Pearl making breakfast. Amethyst was also there, pouring a box of salt down her throat.

 

“Oh, good morning Stevonnie!” Pearl said, clapping her hands together.

 

“Sup, ‘Vonnie,” Amethyst greeted with a finger-gun, “Sleep well?”

 

“Uh, yeah,” Stevonnie nodded, taking a seat at the counter.

 

“How’re you feeling though?” the small gem asked. “Any better?”

 

“Yeah, actually…” Stevonnie said as they hugged themself, feeling a warmth inside. “Being me makes Steven and Connie feel a lot better, I think.”

 

“That’s wonderful!” Pearl smiled. “Oh, by the way, Peridot asked for you to meet her in Amethyst’s room; I think she’s figured out Greg’s leg scan and wants to tell you her hypothesis.”

 

“Okay. But _after_ breakfast.”

 

“That’s my fusion,” Pearl chuckled, passing Stevonnie a plate of waffles covered in syrup and popcorn. Stars appeared in Stevonnie’s eyes.

 

“Wow, Together Breakfast? Thanks, Pearl!”

 

“You’re very welcome. Amethyst, I believe you called the whipped cream.”

 

“Darn tootin'!” Amethyst said, grabbing the striped can and filling her mouth to the brim.

 

\---

 

“Ah, Stevonnie! Just the fusion I wanted to see!” Peridot exclaimed as she finished writing on the chalkboard. Garnet stood nearby, propped up against a corner.

 

“Tell me how you feel.”

 

“Oh, don’t use that ol’ chestnut,” Stevonnie laughed. “Can’t you phrase it some other way? Like, ‘inform me of your emotional status’ or something?”

 

Garnet smiled. “It’s good to see you, Stevonnie.”

 

“It’s good to see me, too. Now, shall we?”

 

The two fusions gathered around the chalkboard as Peridot began her demonstration.

 

“Okay, after analyzing Steven’s parental unit’s leg scan, I have determined two things about its composition.”

 

“Which are?”

 

“First thing, its light-based aspects are merely _residual,_ with the organic bone structure largely having taken its place. Second, I pondered why this was for some time, until I realized there was something _fundamentally different_ between Humans and Gems.”

 

“...Aside from all the _other_ stuff?”

 

“Okay, okay, fair point. But if you could name one major difference between the human body and the gem body, what would it be? Garnet, you already know the answer so no cheating.”

 

“Darn,” Garnet muttered, stoic as ever.

 

“Uh...they’re made of light?” Stevonnie tried to answer.

 

“Go deeper. Where does the light come from?”

 

“From their gemstones? I guess?”

 

“Exactly! Gemstones are gems’ primary sources of energy. Where do humans get their energy?”

 

“Well, we eat food…”

 

“Which is a _highly inefficient_ system, no offense.”

 

“None taken,” Stevonnie said, still very confused.

 

“But back to the topic at hand, I postulate that when Gregory’s leg was initially healed, his leg _was_ reconstructed as being light based, but without a gem it was left to succumb back to its organic roots, after which the primitive human healing process took over.”

 

“What does this mean for Connie, then?”

 

Peridot paused. “That’s where things get tricky, I’m afraid.”

 

Stevonnie’s eyes widened, feeling a tinge of fear. “Tricky bad, or tricky good?”

 

“Well, as has been explained to me many times, Connie lacks a gemstone, leaving her without a power source from which to maintain her new light-based form. And I would _imagine_ that total body reconstruction from ingestion of healing liquids is a bit different from simply healing a limb.”

 

Stevonnie’s brow furrowed. “How different?”

 

“Well…” Peridot scratched her head. “I don’t quite know how to put this, but frankly I’m not sure how Connie’s still alive. The light-based cells would have surely collapsed within the first three months, at the least.”

 

The fusion sighed and looked down at their feet. “No, no,” they said to themself, “It’s okay… I’m sorry. No, I’m sorry. I… _Wait!”_ Stevonnie said, shooting up in the air.

 

“What?” Peridot asked, confused.

 

“What if…it’s because of _me?”_

 

Peridot blinked, Stevonnie continuing in her silence. “What if… What if _I’m_ the reason Connie’s cells didn’t...explode or whatever?”

 

“It’s certainly possible…”

 

“I was first formed a month or so after Steven healed Connie’s eyes. So I guess that replenished Connie’s power? Like giving her a full charge? And then we just kept fusing on and off for a while…”

 

“Which is why no one spotted any peculiarities until recently! Every time Connie’s cells would start to ‘run out of power,’ so-to-speak, her and Steven just so happened to fuse.”

 

“Yeah! Especially with regular fusion training starting up a little while back.”

 

Peridot thought for a moment. “I would like to confirm this hypothesis.”

 

“As would I.”

 

“With a scan.”

 

Stevonnie looked at the steadily burning lab equipment and then back at Garnet. Garnet shrugged.

 

“Oh, alright…” Stevonnie said, marching towards the machine.

 

\---

 

While Peridot analyzed the results of their scan, Stevonnie sat at the kitchen counter, idly staring at their Durian Juice. Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl sat on the couch, looking on and debating who should go talk to them. Pearl gave Garnet a light punch, nodding towards the half-Gem fusion. Garnet got up and approached the counter.

 

“A penny for your thoughts would be appreciated,” Garnet said in her usual roundabout manner.

 

“You know you don’t have to change everything to a statement, right?”

 

“Yes, I do,” Garnet retorted with a smug smile. “Now, tell me what’s on your mind.”

 

“Just wondering… Steven and Connie’s friendship created me, right? All this time I’ve just thought of myself as a… representation of them? But now, it’s like, because of me, because of that friendship, Connie’s been put in danger?”

 

“I wouldn’t say she was put in danger.”

 

“If she and Steven hadn’t fused, her cellular structure or whatever would have decayed and she’d have died! How is that not being in danger?”

 

“I don’t think you would have ever _not_ fused,” Garnet commented, putting a hand to her chin. “I would call it fate.”

 

“Fate?”

 

“For much of my existence, I’ve believed in the branching paths of alternate futures. But a part of me, probably Sapphire, has always held a candle for fate. I reserve it only for a few things in life; Steven and Connie in particular.”

 

“So… I was _inevitable?_ ”

 

“That makes it sound like you’re a bad thing. Remember, we fusions are made of love. That’s nothing to be ashamed of.”

 

“Lo-o-o-ove…” Stevonnie hummed, reminded of the familiar song. “Thanks, Garnet.”

 

Interrupting the fusions’ exchange, Peridot came running out of the Temple, a long sheet of data in tow. “You were right!” she exclaimed. “Stevonnie _is_ the reason for Connie’s lack of decay! Have you ever considered becoming a scientist?”

 

“Uh…” Stevonnie trailed off, unsure of how to answer.

 

Pearl stood up. “Where do we go from here?”

 

“Well, to me the most obvious course of action is to have Stevonnie never unfuse ever, thereby maintaining Connie’s cells forevermore in perpetuity.”

 

“You mean become a permafusion?” Stevonnie asked, hugging themself.

 

 _“They,”_ Pearl began to say, before Garnet gave her a knowing grin, “are not mature enough to make that decision.”

 

“The only alternative would be to put them on a regular ‘fusion schedule,’ once a week for 24 hours or more.”

 

“That would negate the spirit of fusion,” Garnet interjected. “It’s supposed to be a harmonious, emotional endeavor of loving beings; to regulate when it’s ‘supposed’ to happen would be undue pressure on Stevonnie.”

 

“Well, I don’t see any other feasible options!” Peridot shouted. “Unless somehow you can find a way to provide Connie’s hard light body with a power source capable of maintaining it, I don’t—”

 

“Hold it!” Amethyst called out, catching everyone’s attention. “What if we just _made_ Connie a gem?”

 

“What do you mean, ‘make her a gem’?” Pearl asked. “She’s…”

 

“A Gem like us now, but minus the gem, right? And we have the best Kindergartener this side of the Milky Way, and a crapton of old gem tech in the Kindergartens. It could work!”

 

Everyone turned to Peridot, who ran the numbers in her head. After a few moments, she looked up at her fellow Crystal Gems, particularly Stevonnie, who put a hand to their gem in uncertainty. She smiled.

 

_“It could work.”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey everyone! We're baaaaack!


	7. Chapter 7

“Okay,” Stevonnie began as Peridot paced the living room, “so what do we need to make Connie a gem?”

 

“Detain your equestrians,” the green gem stopped, “First things first, we need to figure out what kind of gem fits her personality.”

 

“Oh?”

 

“You can’t take a slowly-decaying, power-source-less physical form such as Connie’s and slap any ol’ gem type on it. The gem will essentially function as a second brain, melding to her current thought processes, and I doubt Steven would take to a Connie with the temperment of, say, a Jasper.”

 

Stevonnie’s left hand began to rise up, before their right hand went and slammed it down. Peridot continued.

 

“Now, since this is literally the first time in the history of the universe that this has happened (a fact I cannot stress enough), we’ll more or less be making this up as we go, _but_ I do have a good idea of a potential process.”

 

“Which is…?” Pearl asked, skeptical.

 

“First, I need to do a complete rundown of every gem-type ever created, comparing their inherent traits with Connie’s until we find a match.”

 

“And how many of those are there?” Amethyst asked from the couch.

 

“Oh, around 472, give or take a mineral. It’ll be easy, since I have a nigh-impeccable memory, but since I have spent a grand total of 56 hours around Connie, I will have to cross-reference each one against your combined knowledge of her.”

 

Pearl put her hand to her forehead. “Can’t we just...create a gem specifically for Connie?”

 

“Theoretically, yes, but practically, no. Earth has exactly two viable Kindergartens, just barely at that. Combine the finite resources with the limited amount of Diamond extract at our disposal, and it’s _much_ safer for us to find a compatible gem type, rather than mixing elements willy-nilly and seeing what happens.”

 

Pearl sighed. “Fine, but can’t we narrow down the options somehow?”

 

“The Prime Kindergarten!” Stevonnie blurted out, catching everyone’s attention. “I mean, uh, Peridot took Steven down into the main computer room last year or whatever; back then it was to show him the database on the Cluster, but they gotta have a database of gem types, right?”

 

Peridot raised her eyebrow. “Of course! We can use the Kindergarten Central Computer to narrow down the options! What a brilliant idea that I have thought of.”

 

Stevonnie rolled their eyes.

 

\---

 

Lifting up a fallen injector, Garnet led the way down the shaft into the Kindergarten Computer Room, virtually untouched from their previous encounter. Pushing aside the old Fusion Experiment cylinders, Peridot approached the control panel, jury-rigging it back to life. Bright green holograms lit up around the Gems, showing countless types of gemstones, combined with blurbs of information detailing their composition and traits.

 

Peridot cracked her knuckles. “Alright, shall we begin?”

 

“Well, she’ll have to be smart,” Pearl suggested. Peri entered in a filter, decreasing the amount of gems on the screen.”

 

“Don’t forget funny,” Amethyst added.

 

“I don’t think Homeworld accounted for humorous tendencies in their data… They do have ‘engaging in frivolocities’ listed under flaws, though!”

 

“A strong moral compass,” Garnet finally said, certain of her answer.

 

“Stevonnie?” Pearl asked. “Anything you would like to add?”

 

Stevonnie thought for a second. They raised their head up and spoke. “Loving.”

 

Garnet placed a hand on their shoulder. “Good choice.”

 

“Again, Homeworld doesn’t account for such things, but they do have ‘emotional outbursts’ listed, so here we go!” Peridot smirked. “Also, a good physical prowess is essential, especially for Connie.”

 

The selections were eventually whittled down to two choices, Turquoise and Moonstone. The first was a nice teal color, while the second was a cool splash of blue and white.

 

“Okay, what’s the difference?” Amethyst chimed in.

 

“Turquoise is stated to have slight sensory sensitivity, and Moonstone has a 40% chance of having a severe confidence deficiency.”

 

“Oh, Turquoise, definitely,” Stevonnie chuckled. “Connie’s the most confident person Steven knows; I don’t think she’d ever want to lose that.”

 

“You’re certain,” Garnet said. It was not a question. (It was never a question.)

 

“Yeah! Plus, I think Turquoise is a good color for her.”

 

“Excellent choice,” Peridot nodded, selecting the gem type on the screen. A list of ingredients flashed on the screen, all written in Gem.

 

“What’s it say?” Stevonnie asked.

 

“Let’s see…” the Kindergartener said, “Hydrated phosphate...that’s easy...copper and aluminum...doubly so… All perfectly doable! Now, lemme just check the extraction mixture.”

 

“Extraction mixture?” the Half-Gem raised their eyebrow.

 

“The method from which every gem is brought to life, the key ingredient that creates that spark, is the essence of the Diamonds themselves. Different gems require different amounts from each Diamond. There are, of course, exceptions, but on whole… Ah! Here we are.”

 

“58.3% Blue Diamond, 39% Yellow Diamond, 2.7% White,” Pearl read off the screen.

 

“That last amount is negligible and can be ignored,” Peridot continued. “White Diamond requires that all gems have at least one percent of her extract included, regardless of it being legitimately necessary.”

 

“Ego trip, much?” Amethyst joked. “Bitch has to have her hands in everything, doesn’t she?”

 

“Your description is succinct as usual, Amethyst,” Peridot smiled. “We can round Blue and Yellow’s amounts to 40/60 and it’ll work just fine.”

 

“That’s all well and good,” Pearl interjected, “But how do we get Blue and Yellow Diamond’s essence? I mean, we can’t exactly ask nicely!”

 

“No, but we should be able to find leftover Diamond Essence in the old injectors.”

 

“Sounds like a plan,” Stevonnie nodded. Garnet noticed that they were fidgeting with their fingers.

 

As Peridot gave her fellow Crystal Gems instructions, Stevonnie slipped away from the group and sat down near the entrance shaft. Their solitude was interrupted, however, by Garnet, sitting down next to them.

 

“Hey, Garnet,” Stevonnie sighed. “Before you ask what’s wrong, don’t.”

 

“I won’t.”

 

“It’s just that… This feels like a big step, you know?”

 

“You’re afraid that it won’t work, or that it’ll change Connie somehow.”

 

“Yeah… And if _I’m_ worried about it, Steven and Connie must be going _nuts_ over it!”

 

Garnet placed a hand on Stevonnie’s shoulder. “I assure you, everything’s going to be alright. And coming from me, that means a lot.”

 

“Thanks, Garnet,” Stevonnie said, pulling Garnet into a hug. “I think I feel a lot better now.” A beat of silence went by, before Stevonnie let out a burst of excitement.

 

“Oh my gosh,” they squeed, “I’m gonna have _two gems!”_

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> In a charity livestream, Rebecca said that Connie's gem would be Turquoise. Therefore, that's what she's getting in MLTG! (Also, the pink of Steven's gem and the teal of Turquoise go nicely together, I think)
> 
> Also, "detain your equestrians" is Peridot's version of "hold your horses" and I love it XD


	8. Chapter 8

“First things first,” Peridot began as they emerged from the underground, “We’re going to need to crack open the tops of these injectors and collect the fluids into something.”

 

“And I have just the thing!” Pearl exclaimed, summoning an object from her gem.

 

“A bucket?” Amethyst asked. It was, indeed, a bucket; a plain, old-fashioned metal one that she probably got back in the 19th century or something. Either way, it worked.

 

“Now, we’ll only need a few gallons of extract from this Kindergarten, considering Amethysts are around 45% Blue Diamond and 55% Pink and that was the primary purpose of this region. Also, be on the lookout for injectors that may still be functional.”

 

“Yeah, yeah,” Amethyst said, “Now which ones can I smash?”

 

Peridot pointed over to a toppled-over injector, most of its mechanisms broken but the red container at its top intact. Amethyst bolted off, leaving the Crystal Gems in the dust. Stevonnie spoke up.

 

“How about one of the injectors that are still on the walls?” they asked, looking up. The massive machines had stayed attached to the canyon sides all these millenia; they must still be good for something!

 

Peri thought for a moment, before her eyes lit up with excitement. “Great idea, Stevonnie! Pearl, assist me!”

 

As Pearl and Peridot climbed up to the injector, Stevonnie looked to Garnet and shrugged. “Care to go Diamond Juice hunting?”

 

“Sure thing,” Garnet answered with a chuckle.

 

The two fusions walked through the dark canyon, idly admiring the scenery. Admittedly the Kindergarten was lifeless and cold by its very nature, but if Rose had taught Garnet anything, it was that bleakness could easily become beautiful if you thought about it the right way. Eventually, they came across an injector that was surprisingly still standing.

 

“I’ll knock out the legs, you grab the top?” Stevonnie suggested.

 

“Let’s do it,” Garnet nodded.

 

Stevonnie summoned their shield, throwing it at the legs of the injector. At such a speed, the shield cut right through the leg, making the tall structure lean over and fall towards them. Stevonnie leapt out of the way, leaving Garnet to hold her gauntlet up high, catching the injector and chopping the top off.

 

“Good work,” Garnet complimented.

 

“Same to you,” Stevonnie returned. They went to check the inside, and found a small amount of bluish-pink liquid. “Jackpot!” the half-Gem exclaimed.

 

The scavenger hunt went on for a good few hours, until they had more or less checked every injector. Garnet and Stevonnie (the latter being surprisingly strong) carried back their collection of injector heads. “Hey Peridot! We got the stuff!” Stevonnie called out.

 

The scene they returned to was interesting to say the least: Amethyst had carried back three times the amount of injector heads they’d collected, and was sitting atop them while Pearl and Peri argued about... something.

 

“The D203 processing system can’t withstand that amount of electrical surge; you can’t just connect it to the central mainframe!” Pearl warned, slapping Peridot’s hand away from the intact injector’s control panel.

 

“I’ve used boxes of scraps more advanced than this thing, I can handle it.”

 

“This isn’t one of your fancy gadget gizmos, it’s an incredibly complex, 6,000-year-old piece of machinery that must be handled  _ delicately _ !”

 

“Please, I took a class on Era One Tech during my Kindergartening Certification; I am well aware of the risks.” Peri picked up an orange extension cord, which led back down into the main computer room, and frayed the end of it with her metallokinesis. After exposing the copper, Peri lifted it towards the control panel, where several wires were sticking out. After exercising her metal powers to intertwine the wires, Peri reached down and flicked a switch. In an instant, the green gem was blown several feet backwards, a blast of energy exploding out of the control panel as the extension cord melted in flames. Pearl summoned a fire extinguisher from her gem and sprayed it on the injector.

 

“Did... did it work?” Peri asked, sticking her head out of the crater her body had created.

 

“No, you exploded,” Pearl answered, hands on her hips disapprovingly. To her shock, however, the lights on the injector flickered on shortly afterwards, the massive machine now functioning under its own power. Peri shot up onto her feet, fists up in the air. “I exploded  _ with success!” _

 

Pearl sighed and turned to Garnet and Stevonnie. “How much did you two find?”

 

“A couple liters,” Garnet answered, “Although we were only able to take down the one injector.”

 

“Hah!” Amethyst shouted from atop her pile of Injector heads. “I win!”

 

“Well,” Pearl said, running the numbers through her head, “at this rate, taking into account the average leftover extract in each injector, plus the fact that each gem produced on Earth contains at least half of Pink Diamond’s essence…”

 

“Which will have to be diluted out to preserve gem purity!” Peridot interrupted.

 

Pearl continued her train of thought, unabated. “...it’ll take approximately 78 more injector heads for us to have the right amount, give or take a few gallons. And that’s just Blue Diamond’s essence. We’ll have to do the same at the Beta Kindergarten to get Yellow’s.”

 

_ “Ugh!”  _ Amethyst cried out. “This is gonna take  _ forever!” _

 

It did not take forever, but as far as Amethyst was concerned, it might as well have been forever, as it wasn’t until the sun was setting that they had the right amount of Blue Diamond extract. The functioning injector now contained 60% blue liquid, with a separate injector head being used for the distilled pink liquid (for some reason, Stevonnie could have swore it smelled familiar).

 

The next day, Pearl and Garnet set about collecting Yellow’s extract from the Beta Kindergarten, while Amethyst, Peridot and Stevonnie went off to find suitable injection sites. Amethyst decided to name the mission “The Shorty Squad Meets The New Crystal Gems, Minus One,” which made Stevonnie chuckle. The four of them assembled on the warp pad.

 

“So,” Amethyst asked, smacking her hands together, “What are we looking for, exactly?”

 

“Well,” Peridot began, “the easiest thing to do would be to locate regions with turquoise deposits, although not  _ too _ abundant. I know of several from the original Earth Surveys I read prior to my mission, so we shall start with those.”

 

When the warp stream dissipated, the three found themselves in a rocky, forested region. The warp pad was covered in leaves, and the area appeared to be a park of some sort, but the people didn’t seem to notice them. Peridot knelt down and licked a rock.

 

“Ooh, Southern Hemisphere sedimentary, how sweet,” she said, smacking her lips.

 

“Oh come on!” Amethyst cried out. “How the hell did you get  _ that  _ from licking a rock?!”

 

“A Kindergartener has her ways.”

 

Stevonnie took in the wilderness, walking amongst the trees. They waved at a young man on the trail, who waved back. While Peridot and Amethyst took care of the actual scouting, the fusion sat down on a rock and looked up at the trees. Their branches were waving in the wind. They could hear the sound of birds, and the buzzing of bugs, and the rustling of leaves as animals hopped through them. It was peaceful.

 

“Yo! ‘Vonnie!” Amethyst called out, “We found your new birthplace!”

 

“What?” Stevonnie turned around, cocking their eyebrow.

 

“I mean, this gem’s gonna be part of you, right?” the quartz shrugged. “That means wherever this place is, it’s gonna be where part of you is from. Me, I got Kentucky dirt in me.”

 

“So where are we now?”

 

“I think Australia?” Amethyst shrugged. “Somewhere southeast.”

 

“Wait,” Stevonnie gasped, eyes widened, _ “Connie’s gonna be half-Australian?” _


	9. Chapter 9

Peridot had marked a cliffside not too far from the warp pad, attempting to spray-paint Connie’s face onto the intended injection site, but it instead looked like a deformed clown. When asked why she had chosen a clown as her symbol of choice for designating the spot she'd staked out, Peridot informed them that she had no idea what a 'clown' was, and that the image was in fact Connie. Stevonnie had gotten a good laugh at that.

 

“Garnet and Pearl should be just about finished with the Yellow Extract,” Peridot commented, “and Amethyst should be here soon with the Injector.”

 

As if on cue, Amethyst materialized from the warp pad, a massive Injector in tow. 

“You have no idea how hard it is getting this on the pad!” the purple Gem shouted as she guided the machine off the pad. “So ‘Vonnie, I’d like you to meet your new father, Mr. Injector, he’s very shy so be patient with him. He and Momma Rockface love each other very much so they’ve decided to—”

 

“That’s enough!” Pearl shouted as she and Garnet arrived on the warp pad, carrying several buckets’ worth of diluted Diamond Extract. Stevonnie snickered, grabbing a few of the buckets to ease the load. “It’s fine, Pearl. Now where do we put all this?”

 

Pearl raised her finger, as if she knew the answer, before turning to Peridot. “That’s a good question. Peridot, where do we put the extract?” 

 

Peridot scoffed. “ _ In _ the Injector, obviously! Haven’t you been listening?”

 

“Wait, so that’s it?” Stevonnie asked, their voice wavering with reluctance. “We just...load up the Injector, shoot the stuff into the rock, and  _ bam,  _ new gem for Connie?”

 

“Yes,” Peridot nodded, opening a compartment in the Injector. “It’s surprisingly straightforward, now that you lay it all out like that.”

 

“Yeah…” Stevonnie glumly remarked, looking down at their feet. This did not go unnoticed by Pearl, and she quickly signaled for Garnet and Amethyst to go help Peridot. Stevonnie went and sat down on a log, silently thinking to themself.

 

“Penny for your thoughts?” Pearl asked, sitting down with the fusion.

 

Stevonnie looked up at the trees. “It feels so…  _ final _ . Like, after this, Connie gets her gem, and that’s it. Everything changes after that, you know?”

 

Pearl thought for a moment, and then spoke. “I don’t think so. Steven and Connie will still be friends; probably closer than before. You’ll still exist, as I can’t imagine them not wanting to fuse. In fact, now it should be even  _ easier  _ for Steven and Connie to fuse. And Connie will have her own gem! With her own weapon and powers… If you ask me, that’s a pretty, erm,  _ cool  _ change.”

 

Stevonnie smiled. “Yeah… It is.”

 

“And we are ready for injection!” Peridot exclaimed, riding atop the now-perpendicular Injector, filled with Diamond Extract. She hopped down and gestured to Stevonnie. “Care to do the honors? You just gotta press the green button on the control panel.”

 

Stevonnie nodded, jumping up onto the Injector (with some help from their floating powers). The fusion hesitated for a moment, but then looked down at the Gems, all smiling with support. Returning the smile with appreciation, Stevonnie pressed the green button, bringing the Injector to life. The massive machine drilled into the rock face, shooting every ounce of the extract into it. Stevonnie hopped down from the Injector, which returned to its standby position on the ground. 

 

“So now what?” Stevonnie asked, not taking their eyes off the small hole in the rock.

 

“Now we wait!” Peridot proclaimed. “Normally, Gem Incubation takes, give or take, 100 Earth years,  _ but  _ thanks to the fact that Connie already has a personality, intellect and hard-light body, most of the process has been fast-tracked to merely the production of the gem itself.

 

“Which means it’s going to take…?” Amethyst asked, speaking for everyone.

 

Checking the time on her tablet, Peridot responded, “Ten more seconds.”

 

_ “What?!” _

 

In almost no time at all, the small hole where the extract had been injected began to glow, and a shimmering blue-green gem burst out, caught by Peridot. Peridot proceeded to lick the gem, swooshing the saliva around in her mouth for a moment. “Chest. Center of the breastplate, below the collarbone.”

 

Stevonnie stared at the gem in Peridot’s hands for what felt like an eternity. “I guess… I guess it’s time…” they said, tears in their eyes. In a flash of light, Stevonnie disappeared and left Steven and Connie behind, still wrapped in a hug. They slowly pulled out of the hug, laughing awkwardly. Peridot handed the gem to Steven, deciding that he deserved to do the honors.

 

“So, uh, it’s in the center of her chest, you said?” Steven asked, sweating nervously. Connie laid down on a flat rock nearby, breathing in-and-out. She was ready. Or at least, she made damn sure she was ready because getting an alien rock grafted onto your skin to prevent your light-body from decaying was  _ not  _ the time for cold feet.

 

“Yes, that is her gem placement,” Peridot confirmed. “It should be easy, just press down firmly and the gem will do the rest.”

 

“If you say so,” Steven shakily said, lowering the gem down towards Connie. “It’s, uh, gonna be okay, Connie.”

 

“Steven, relax,” Connie giggled. Steven giggled in return, realizing his stupidity. “Thanks, heh.” Connie reached for her shirt collar and pulled down slightly (which understandably made Steven blush). Steven placed the gem onto the bare skin, and pushed. Like a peg clicking into a hole, the gem implanted itself into Connie’s skin, engulfing her in a flash of light. Connie’s body rose into the air as the light grew stronger.

 

“Wh-what’s it doing?” Steven asked, frantic.

 

“You mean, what’s  _ she  _ doing,” Peridot answered. “Connie and her gem are becoming one. Her body has to adapt to it, which I suspect it’s doing fairly quickly considering it’s already acclimated to being light-based.”

 

The light faded away, revealing the physical form Connie had chosen. It mostly resembled her training outfit, except with a teal belt instead of red. She also took elements from her  _ Unfamiliar Familiar  _ cosplay, granting her a green cape and dark blue boots. Her turquoise gem shimmered beneath her clothes, much like Steven’s underneath his shirt. She floated back down, Steven and the gems looking on in awe.

 

Connie opened her eyes. A smile stretched across her face, her body filled with sheer jubilation and power like she’d never felt before. She rushed forward and hugged Steven.

 

“Steven!” she cried out, “That was amazing! I feel amazing!”

 

“You’re not sick or dying or breaking out in hives or—” Steven began to say before Connie shut him up. 

 

“I’m  _ fine,  _ Steven. I think… I think I’m better than I ever was, actually.”

 

Steven looked into her eyes. Those big, beautiful, mesmerizing eyes. “You’ve always been incredible to me,” he told her, smooth as ever. Connie blushed.

 

_ “Hey, get a room!”  _ Amethyst shouted, startling the two out of their moment. “Also, congrats on the boob gem!” she continued, lowering her shirt (earning a few exasperated gasps from Pearl).

 

“I concur,” Peridot nodded, “Also, your physical form is quite aesthetically pleasing, I must say.”

 

“And I do like the colors,” Pearl said, smiling with pride.

 

“You made the right choice,” Garnet told Connie, down on one knee. “Now, I believe you have somewhere to be.” Connie thought for a second, realizing what the fusion meant. “But not before our group hug,” Garnet finished with a smirk as Steven and the Gems leaped forward and wrapped Connie into a hug.

 

She knew she made the right decision.

 

\---

 

Priyanka had lost count of how many days it had been since Connie refused to speak to her. It probably wasn’t  _ that  _ long, but with the way she had left things, it felt like forever. She told herself Connie just needed space. Which was almost definitely true. But she also wanted nothing more than to rush over to Beach City and tell her daughter that she was sorry, and ask for forgiveness. She never intended to hurt Connie, after all, but keeping secrets tended to do that. She wondered if Connie would ever come home...

 

Then, she heard the familiar sound of a lion roar outside followed by a doorbell. The doctor rushed to the door, opening it as fast as she could. Standing there was her daughter, dressed in new clothes, with a curious teal object shining beneath her shirt. “Hi, mom,” the girl hesitantly said, awkwardly waving hello. “I, uh… I forgive you. And I think I’m ready to come home now.”

 

Priyanka rushed forward to hug Connie, pulling her close and holding her for a long time. The two stood there for some time, locked in an embrace, their mother-daughter bond restored. Their tearful hug was interrupted eventually by the sound of a taxi stopping and a car door opening, followed by the taxi hastily speeding off at the sight of Lion.

 

“Hey!” Doug Maheswaran exclaimed, “I’m back from my business trip! Did I miss anything?”

 

Connie and her mother simply burst into laughter.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> There's one more chapter left: An epilogue :)


	10. Epilogue

_ Ten Years Later… _

 

“Down with the Crystal Gems! Long live the Diamond Authority!” the insurgent Gems declared as they made yet another attack on the beach outside the Temple.

 

“Why do these guys keep comin’ out of the woodwork?” Amethyst asked, exasperated. “Y’all lost!” Amethyst wrapped one of the loyalists with her whip, poofing them in an instant.

 

“Some people just can’t take a hint,” Connie, now in her early twenties, said as she sparred with a particularly annoying Agate.

 

“Has Gemkind been dragged down so low that they allow  _ humans  _ to fight?” the Agate remarked.

 

Connie threw down her metal sword and reached for her glowing turquoise gem. “I’m a bit less human than you think,” she smirked as she pulled a blue and green sword from her chest. “But I can kick your ass either way.”

 

As Connie and the Agate continued to fight, Rainbow 2.0 flew in on a burst from his umbrella, blasting three of the loyalist gems to dust, their gems falling to the ground. “My, my, what a mess!” he remarked, separating his weapon into Steven’s shield and Pearl’s spear. “Well, as they say, only Diamond Loyalist could get beaten by a bunch of defective scallywags!”

 

“Nobody says that!” Peridot cried out as she slammed a trash can against a Morganite’s head.

 

“Rainbow!” Garnet called out, throwing a Quartz soldier into the ground. “Connie could use some help!”

 

“On it!” Rainbow nodded before unfusing. Steven, now with a fairly large build, leapt towards Connie, who was pinned on the ground by the Agate. He threw his shield into the Agate’s face, knocking her out long enough to take Connie’s hand.

 

“Thanks,” Connie chuckled. “Thinking what I’m thinking?”

 

“You know it, biscuit!” Steven said his gem began to glow. Connie’s began glowing as well, and the two were quickly enveloped by a bright light.

 

Stevonnie opened their eyes, smiling a a confident smirk. The Agate got back up, ready to charge forward. Stevonnie summoned their sword and shield, blocking the Agate easily.

 

“You think you’ve won?” the Agate gloated. “I’ll have the Diamonds back on the throne! They shall reign again! You’ll see! You’ll all see!”

 

Stevonnie laughed. “Yeah, let ‘em know you said that next November. Retirement’s been pretty good to ‘em, I think.” Stevonnie then poofed the Agate with a simple punch to the jaw, proceeding to throw their shield like a boomerang, knocking out the rest of the loyalist and poofing them on contact. 

 

“I keep forgetting how OP ‘Vonnie is,” Amethyst laughed, putting away her whip.

 

“The power of love I guess,” Stevonnie shrugged, returning to the group.

 

“Aww,” Amethyst mocked, “Now I know why me an’ Connie don’t get to fuse outside of training.”

 

“Now, now, Amethyst,” Pearl interrupted, “Connie’s fusions are all equally capable…  _ Especially mine—”  _

 

“Hey!” Peridot said, riding in on a floating hubcap. “My fusion with Connie is far superior. Our combined intellect makes us unstoppable!”

 

“Settle down everyone,” Garnet remarked. “Fusion isn’t about who’s more powerful or who’s cooler. It’s about the connection you make with your partner…  _ Which means mine is the best—” _

 

Everyone began to argue, until a familiar  _ swoosh  _ was heard, followed by Lapis landing in the center of the group. “Well I think  _ Stevonnie  _ is the best Connie fusion,” she shrugged, taking the fusion’s hand. “By the way, I went and told ‘President Bloop’ on Homeworld about the attack, so you’re covered.”

 

Pearl immediately turned to Amethyst. “That is not her proper title!”

 

“She likes it, don’t worry,” Lapis assured them, Amethyst fist-bumping Garnet in response. “Now, ‘Von, I believe we had plans?”

 

Stevonnie blushed. “Indeed we did. Shall we, milady?”

 

“Indeed, milordy,” Lapis said, carrying the fusion and flying away with them.

 

The Crystal Gems smiled and looked up at the stars, until Peridot realized something. “Wait…” she began, “Are they—?”

 

Garnet, Amethyst and Pearl answered in unison:  _ “Yes.” _

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> And that's the end!
> 
> Hope you all liked it :)

**Author's Note:**

> Welcome to my new fic! Apologies for any inaccuracies about the human body and science in general. But I hope you like it anyway!


End file.
